How each department measured up

The Audit Commission rated Coventry City Council?s services like this. For the council?s final overall score, some services, such as education and social services, were weighted more heavily than others.

The Audit Commission rated Coventry City Council?s services like this. For the council?s final overall score, some services, such as education and social services, were weighted more heavily than others. Last year?s rating in brackets.

EDUCATION 3 out of 4 (3). The service is highly regarded, with Ofsted giving it a good report as a local education authority. This reflects a long-standing political commitment from councillors to schools.

SOCIAL SERVICES for ADULTS 2 out of 4 (2)

SOCIAL SERVICES for CHILDREN ? 2 out of 4 (1). A key area of improvement. The child protection team has been in special measures for five years, longer than any other in England. It came off them this year.Damning reports from the SSI and the Audit Commission five years ago catalogued poor management throughout children?s services.They found four children left at ?unnecessary extra risk?, child protection cases taking an average of seven weeks to be fully discussed and many children in care without a named social worker. Now, all child protection case conferences are held within 15 days except in rare cases when parents are not available. Only 11 out of 500 children being looked after by the local authority do not have a named social worker.

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES 2 out of 4 (2).

This includes rubbish collection, street lighting, and street cleaning. The council this year created a new department of city services.Council leader John Mutton says streets are much cleaner now: ?Most places in the city, except for The Burges which seems to always get filthy late at night, are cleaner.And Coventry won the regional gold award for Cities in Bloom this year. But we?re not resting on our laurels. While progress is significant, we still recognise there?s a lot more to be done.?

HOUSING 3 out of 4 (3).

The council sold off its 23,400 council homes to Whitefriars Homes before the town hall league tables started. But it still runs a waiting list. A lot of work has been done to improve private housing stock, particularly by persuading or coercing owners of derelict and empty properties to smarten them up.

COUNCIL TAX and BENEFITS 2 out of 4 (1).

Another key area for improvement. Major reorganisation of this office will continue. Council tax arrears topped #17 million last year, and the year before (until councillors wrote off some of the debts). This year the outstanding arrears are currently at #12.7 million although Cllr Mutton said that may rise by the end of the financial year. He said one-quarter of arrears from previous years has been collected.People are still waiting on average 57 days for housing benefit claims to be paid out, but that?s an improvement on a year ago, when it was up to three months.

LIBRARIES 2 out of 4 (1).

Coventry was warned last year that it did not meet minimum standards. The council is now investing more in libraries, refurbishing some and building new ones.